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Transcendent
Bleach manga; Chapter 175, page 12}} Transcendent (超越者, Chōetsu-sha; literally "Transcendental Being")Bleach manga; Chapter 419, page 17 beings are that have broken through the limit (限界, Genkai) imposed upon them by their own individual existences. All souls exist within an existential dimension all their own, a limit imposed upon them by god; a destiny or fate, so to speak, as to how far they can evolve. Because of this, there is only so much that they can accomplish on their own. In order to achieve heights that surpass these innate limits, they must tear down the boundaries that separate their existential dimensions from others. It is believed is one possible route toward becoming a Transcendent being. Overview Bleach manga; Chapter 400, pages 18-19}} It is said that all beings possess an innate capacity for evolution. No matter what existence they are, they are restricted to that existential dimension. That is their destiny; their fate. Whether one can consider this a good or a bad thing is debatable. Existing within fate meant that one was a prisoner of fate but also being protected by fate as well. They could only stray so far from a drawn path and avoid being lost to the turbulent chaos of this world. It is the equivalent of those who have faith in a higher power to protect and save them as their god. It is believed that the created the various existences — , , , — and kept them divided in order to preserve balance in the world. That every being be content to live within the boundaries drawn by fate. But there are those that are not satisfied with remaining within the confines of destiny. They are the ones that ignore god's warning and step outside of fate. That is what is referred to as a Transcendent being. describing effect on the soul.Bleach manga; Chapter 535, page 6}} Stepping outside of the boundaries imposed by one's existential dimension enables one to shatter the limit of their own existence and achieve power beyond those limitations. In order to do so, one must manage to first reach the limit of their own existence, and then find a way to reach past the boundaries into the realm of other existential dimensions. is a prime example of this. When learning to harness the , he had "become the Getsuga".Bleach manga; Chapter 420, pages 12-13 In other words, he had momentarily broke through his own limit as a Shinigami by perfectly merging together with his which contained the already-fused powers of a and a .Bleach manga; Chapter 420, pages 14-15 One could even say that Ichigo had reached the end goal of Hollowfication by achieving a perfection harmony through the fusion of a Shinigami with a Hollow. When had managed to break through the boundaries of his own existential dimension as a Shinigami through the power of the , he had achieved an existence that was beyond either Shinigami or Hollow, and had ascended to the realm of a god.Bleach databook; UNMASKED While the most significant aspect of becoming a Transcendent is to reach into an existential dimension beyond one's own, it is possible to break through these limits by one's own efforts. is an example of this. In his case, Seireitou managed to achieve comparable heights through — namely the third realm of Hakuda, — in which the soul expands and opens up beyond its imposed capacity. Reaching into this state can allow Hakuda masters to evolve into Transcendent beings, achieving an existence rivaling that of a god. masters can also reach similar heights through a process similar to Ichigo Kurosaki, where they have managed to perfectly merge with their Zanpakutō and used them to shatter the boundaries surrounding their own existences. Aizen himself had theorized that perhaps this fused form is in fact the original form of the Zanpakutō, in which the sword is literally merged to the Shinigami's hand.Bleach manga; Chapter 418, page 11 Border of Reason Bleach light novel; Can't Fear Your Own World III}} All souls, no matter how powerful, exist within a world dictated by . Call it fate, destiny, god, or whatever it may be; because of this, living beings may be able to resist and fight against the reason of this world, but their defiance is only a futile struggle. The world will always have its way. Transcendent beings, therefore, are those who have broken from the chains that bind them to reason and stand outside of reason itself. In undergoing transcendence, they have managed to break through and cross the 'border' that exists between this world's laws and what lies beyond them. There are some beings in this world who are often described as approaching this border through sheer strength of will and power garnered after a lifetime of battles, yet have not truly crossed the border for one reason or another. Such is the case of . Yamamoto was repeatedly praised as a 'sword demon' of inconceivable power, despite not bearing any familial connection to the four great noble houses from which the strongest Shinigami are said to be born in. At his peak, Yamamoto's power was claimed to be without equal and to have "reached the outskirts of common sense".Bleach light novel; Can't Fear Your Own World III Similarly, during the battle against Aizen, was able to sense the transcended level of reiatsu from Aizen that nobody among , , nor were able to sense.Bleach manga; Chapter 407, pages 7-8 Despite having yet undergone transcendence himself as he would later on, Ichigo's standing as a made him similar in nature to that of the , and as such, he possessed the innate potential within him to transcend. This enabled him to register the powers of a true Transcendent in a way others could not, despite not yet being one himself. Evolutionary Routes While achieving Transcendence is often tailored to the uniqueness of the individual, there can sometimes be similarities in the route of evolution that a particular soul takes in the process of becoming a Transcendent. At one point, hypothesizes that he and had achieved a similar conclusion to their evolution in that, in both of their cases, their Zanpakutō fused with their right arm. It is difficult to ascertain whether there was any validity to this statement, as later Aizen notes the difference in their evolution, mistakenly believing his own Transcendence to have surpassed Ichigo's own level.Bleach manga; Chapter 418, page 11 One could theorize that their difference in power was not necessarily a disparity in evolutionary levels but rather in evolutionary routes; namely, it was not that Ichigo was beyond Aizen within the same evolutionary route, but that his evolution was fundamentally different from Aizen's own evolution entirely. Regardless, what can be asserted is that there are routes of evolution which can be undertaken by multiple individuals, such as the Evolución form, which can be considered a specific route of evolution obtainable by an . The Seraph are a group of souls that have achieved a common evolutionary route which they refer to as 'Ascendance'. Characteristics }} The nature behind a Transcendent being is often different depending upon the individual and the process in which one has broken their existential limits. One shared feature, however, among all Transcendent beings is that they have achieved which cannot be sensed by beings that remain within their existential dimensions, unless the Transcendent being themselves permit interference by lower beings. As Aizen explained, by achieving evolution into a dimension separate from Shinigami, both Shinigami and Humans have become unable to feel his spiritual pressure unless he voluntarily lowers his level and allows them to interfere; in the same way that a two-dimensional being is unable to interfere with a three-dimensional being.Bleach manga; Chapter 420, pages 14-15 What makes a Transcendent being so powerful is their ability to defy and influence fate. As beings who have shattered the fate forced upon them by their own existences, they are beings that stand outside of destiny and fate itself, and as such, they can impose their own will onto it in order to manipulate fate to some extent; even shatter it outright, if they should so wish. Similarly, such an existence renders them immune to powers that themselves try to influence fate, for they themselves stand outside of it. Altering fate means being able to defy the laws of reason and causation, making even the act of overturning causality a possibility. In other words, they are able to distort cause and effect as they see fit. first demonstrated this upon destroying the , a being of that cannot be interfered with by normal reiatsu. By using his powers as a Transcendent, he was able to completely annihilate an entity that the is unable to otherwise deal with.Bleach manga; Chapter 407, pages 2-3 Ichigo also demonstrated this Transcendent quality specifically against Aizen's spell that had been reinforced with the full incantation, boasting power behind it that far surpassed a Shinigami's capabilities. Normally, this is a high-level which uses immense torrents of gravity to even warp spacetime, and yet, Ichigo was able to break through the spell using nothing more than his bare hand. The spell did not warrant even the use of his blade; rather, he saw fit to simply tear through it with a single swipe of his hand. Such a thing should have be impossible. By his will as a Transcendent being, he was able to defy Kurohitsugi's power to bend space and time, and managed to tear it apart with sheer physical might, thus violating causality itself in the process.Bleach manga; Chapter 418, pages 16-17 References Behind the Scenes